I truly love daring, ambitious concepts. Concepts that require technical know-how, ingenuity, obsession, large-scale thinking and a lot of guts to pull it off successfully. And that's what I love about this new Honda Insight work from Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam. To launch Honda's first serious foray into the hybrid market, they used the headlights of hundreds(?) of new Insights as a pixel grid making for a dramatic reveal worthy of the vehicle. The resulting animation is a feel-good reflection of humanity - a definitive positive note the concludes with a tagline of "Everyone wants to be good."

The soundtrack choice of the old gospel hymn/children's song This Little Light of Mine makes sure the audience doesn't forget that this is a car that one can be proud to own; a status symbol of one's progressiveness too. I'm not sure there is a better song choice for the spot, but co-opting a traditional religious song for marketing purposes does feel a bit heavy-handed. However, it does not get in the way of enjoying this charming little (actually huge) spot.

Production company, Bouffant, worked with the agency and had this to say about the ambitious approach: "In order to convey the humanity and goodwill element behind the concept director Erik Van Wyk set out to create these scenes in-camera. A challenge that was not for the fainthearted. According to the Director, “I was quite militant about doing it all in-camera using real lights in a gigantic grid. People sense the honesty in the sweat and commitment of other people, not CG.” And I couldn't agree more. It's the scale and honesty behind the spot that makes it work, and that integrity can't help but be passed onto the product at the end of the day. Were it done in CG it would have felt contrived at best. As it is, the commercial is a moving epic with some creative willpower behind it.

More from Bouffant: The process involved mathematical genius, doing an innumerable amount of pre-viz grids and exposure tests before deciding on the height, angle, lenses and exact distances between absolutely everything to create the perspective for this gigantic LED screen. On the ground we used laser sights, GPS and even a land surveyor. The location was crucial in order to accommodate the elevation of the camera and to contribute to the aesthetic of the story.

There's also a nice behind the scenes video, that although feels too much like a sales-pitch is a nice peek behind the production set.